50mm leica m mount

[dford]

Inane question. Looking for the lightest weight and most compact 50mm

lens, not 40mm, for Leica M mount., prefer f2. Is it one of the

Russian lenses, like the Jupiter 3 or 8? The old collapsible

Summicron? A 50mm sonnar with m adapter? What�s the answer?

[graham_morriss2]

Try a Summar with adaptor.

[Bill Blackwell Images]

"...the lightest weight and most compact [f2] 50mm lens... for Leica M mount"

 

If this is your only criteria, the answer has to be the collapsible Summicron.

[Troll]

The current black Summicron (w/o the built-in shade).

[________1]

If you can suffer f3.5 a coated post-war Elmar would be the lightest, most compact lens. Excellent performer too, one of the few lenses I've owned that actually did have some "special" quality about it. (for the record the other was a 35mm f2.0 Zuiko)

[todd frederick]

I used a Jupiter 8 a few years ago and it was outstanding, but, I think quality control was not the best and you will find some that are not really very good. They are not expensive so you may want to try a couple and then sell those you don't like.

[johnmarkpainter]

Doug,

 

You should be able to find a user Collapsible Summicron for around $250. They are great

lenses and are very compact.

[peter_white2]

The collapsible lenses use heavy brass construction. The lightest f/2 lens would probably be a black anodized Summicron. Those are mostly aluminum so they are much lighter.

[richard s.]

Heliar 50mm f3,5 - 150g without the hood. Not quite as fast as you're looking for, but

light, full of character and collapsible. And it's not overly expensive either. Needs an m

adapter though.

[icuneko]

Current 50mm Elmar-M black version weighs in at 170 grams, though f/2.8.

[dford]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm on a weight loss plan. Selling the MP for a Zeiss Ikon, already have the summicron 35mm IV and the elmar 50/2.8. Possible problem though with collapsible lenses on the Ikon. Summicron 50 without the built in hood looks to be the best low weight alternative.

[steve_chan5]

You could wait for the collapsible heliar (50mm f2) from Voigtlander. You have to buy an R2M/R3M as a large, bulky rear lens cap for it though, since it only comes in a kit.

[roger_hicks1]

Dear Doug,

 

If you can live with f/2.5 the Color-Skopar is a lovely little bottle.

 

Cheers,

 

Roger (www.rogerandfrances.com)

[EricBoehm]

I have a Jupiter 8 in LTM. Even with the adaptor, it's very compact and weighs lots less than my collapsible cron.

[richard s.]

I second Roger's suggestion of the Color-Skopar 50 mm / f2,5 - an excellent lens. Very

smooth out of focus areas, well built and compact.

[dan flanders]

I would glady endure the few extra grams of a collapsible in my pocket instead of the bulk of a rigid snout! In an ergonomic context weight is not necessarily negative when bulk is also involved. I like my faithful old Summicron, but I could become fond of the newer Elmar. With today's emulsions a single stop is not always a critical difference.

[joel_matherson]

There is a new 50mm f2 collapsable Heliar just come onto the market. At the moment its only offered with the Voigtlander limited edition manual cameras but hopefully we will see the lens offered seperately.

[frederick_muller]

It would have been nice to see a limited edition resurrection of the R2. The R2M sounds pretty much like an R2 with the R2A's body styling.

[vincenzo_maielli]

I own a Leitz Summitar 50/2 collapsible LTM that i mount on Leica M2 with appropriate Voigtlaender Cosina adapter (50/75 type). I find that it's a fantastic performer. Another and better solution it's a Summicron 50/2 LTM, collapsible or rigid version. The Sonnar 50/2 it's very very good standard lens, but the Orion adapter are very very rare and ultra expensive tool. I dont like the Russian LTM Jupiter 8 50/2.

But if you can afford, choose the current Summicron M 50/2 or VC Nokton 50/1,5. Are both modern lenses and better performer than older versions (above all the Summicron 50/2).

Ciao

 

Vincenzo Maielli